Our (it was my mums from new and then mine) last car was kept for 13 years until it just became more and more expensive at each MOT with the increasing rust etc (and with the scrappage and a better job I was able to afford a new car)
I can't see the 500 being any different, if it needs work later in its life I may start learning how to do things myself rather than take it somewhere. One of the reasons I wanted a 500 was because it was retro themed if you look after it it should stay looking nice rather than dating like some other car models that change their styling quite often - ie Clio, Fiesta etc...

Kept my last car for 12 years, and may do the same with the 500 unless it develops some annoying fault, last car went through 4 sets of wiper arms in 3 months and I couldn't find a scrapper with a decent linkage so moved it on. That car cost me £8000 to buy and about £4000 over 12 years in maintainence, money I saved allowed me to buy my dream car, which I've had for 7 years now and hope to keep it forever. I like the fiat but doubt I'd ever get as attached to it.

2-4 years in general for a new car.

The 500 will likely be 3, then I may get another (remapped deisel), may keep it, or may get an Alfa.

2 to 3 years.
or
untill someone offers me a price i cant refuse.
my pressent car i have had 5 years ]
and been offerered a good price.
but I am attached to it even though its 16 years old.

or
untill a better car takes your fancy..:slayer:

or
you win the lottery.:devil:

We always keep our cars for a long time, I've been driving since 1987 and in that time I've had 8 cars (and of those I still have 2). My wife has been driving since 1991 and has had 6 cars, the Mondeo she had before the 500 we bought new and kept for just over seven years.

I don't know, I've never had a brand new car, I rely on the people who must have brand new every 18 months to provide me with a nice almost new car which has taken that first massive depreciation hit you get as soon as you drive out of the showroom. So please people keep replacing for new.

But my girlfriend plans on keeping her prize-draw 500 till it crumbles into the ground and I'm not planning on replacing my 3 year-old Panda Cross either. I think we're probably the type of people though who aren't over bothered about the newest toys, I've had the same mobile phone since 2003.

Maintainance and care is the key here, neglect a car and after 2 - 3 years they will give you hell on a horse back!
Treat them well, as was intended, service them when required (or before) hand wash to check the shiny bits, look under the bonnet at least once a week, seek out and fix any rattles you get, do the cam-belt changes on time, avoid under bonnet jet washing, hoover it out every week & a new car will last many years and still look good.

Example #1 is Mrs Ffoxy's 1.2 Stilo, never a moments trouble in the 6 years we've had it, treated as above, regularly hand washed, serviced on time, never caned or neglected, we plan to keep that for another few years, 48,000 on the clock, never failed an MoT.

Example #2 is my GPS, loved and cared for never thrashed or neglected, treated as above, always hand washed and anything that didnt seem right gets done straight away, not much, just little stuff, still a brill rattle free car with nothing dropping off, 58,500 miles and recently passed its MoT.

example number 3

our multipla - never washed, never hoovered, only ever had 1 dealer service 9 years ago, mended when it goes wrong, oil change and cambelt as demanded, thrashed around, loaded to the gills, lent to friends and neighbours - 10 years old, 100k miles and never failed an MOT

booklady said:

example number 3

our multipla - never washed, never hoovered, only ever had 1 dealer service 9 years ago, mended when it goes wrong, oil change and cambelt as demanded, thrashed around, loaded to the gills, lent to friends and neighbours - 10 years old, 100k miles and never failed an MOT

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Example 4

My Fiat 131 which was passed around from my dad to my brother and then to me which had done probably somewhere around 200k miles with original everything and which in the whole 18 or so years in my family broke down once. Not bad for a 70's Italian car. Used a bit of oil and that was about it.

The 500 is my first new car and I intend to keep it until it is too expensive to mantain (or falls to bits - whichever comes first). Like other people here I always went with almost-new cars till the 500 but I couldn't wait till it became 'second hand'

The plan is 3/4 years on my 500. In the past I've got rid of cars earlier than intended when someone has hit them and they then have an all too often crap repair job.

Melanabb said:

The 500 is my first new car and I intend to keep it until it is too expensive to mantain (or falls to bits - whichever comes first). Like other people here I always went with almost-new cars till the 500 but I couldn't wait till it became 'second hand'

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Sometimes buying nearly new is a double edged sword though. Someone could have abused the car and poorly maintained it for the 3 years they had it and it could be an absolute bucket of bolts but of course the body will be nice and appear good on the surface but underneath there might be problems because people have the mentality that the car is only going to be with them for 3 years so as long as it lasts that 3 years it's all good.

I always swore that I would never buy new but now I can kind of understand. I know that our 500 will never have been abused and it will always have been serviced properly etc etc and any bits that do break or wear out will only be replaced with quality parts which certainly wasn't something I could say about my 406 which had been abused and had loads of crappy bits on it.

That said our next car will probably be nearly new but probably another Subaru as they are pretty bulletproof.

306maxi said:

Sometimes buying nearly new is a double edged sword though. Someone could have abused the car and poorly maintained it for the 3 years they had it and it could be an absolute bucket of bolts but of course the body will be nice and appear good on the surface but underneath there might be problems because people have the mentality that the car is only going to be with them for 3 years so as long as it lasts that 3 years it's all good.

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I wouldn't really call 3 years old nearly new personally. Most of the cars that I have bought have been roughly a year old (which I would call nearly new ), our 500 was 9 months old when we bought it and I think even an abused car of this age is probably not too much of a risk. Having said that our 500 has obviously been abused by its first owner, three of the wheels have kerb damage!

trphil said:

our 500 was 9 months old when we bought it and I think even an abused car of this age is probably not too much of a risk. Having said that our 500 has obviously been abused by its first owner, three of the wheels have kerb damage!

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I don't think that scuffed wheels is a reliable yardstick by which to determine whether a car has been abused. My car also has scuffed wheels from where a lorry, travelling in the middle of the road left my wife with no other choice but to edge into the kerb. She does not thrash the car and I doubt if the tacho has ever been any further than 4000RPM (diesel).

Melanabb said:

The 500 is my first new car and I intend to keep it until it is too expensive to mantain (or falls to bits - whichever comes first). Like other people here I always went with almost-new cars till the 500 but I couldn't wait till it became 'second hand'

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:tempt:so 2 or 3 years then

grimwau said:

...I doubt if the tacho has ever been any further than 4000RPM (diesel).

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Which to be fair is about the sensible limit for it.

pearce_jj said:

Which to be fair is about the sensible limit for it.

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Well a diesel will never really overrev itself, they just run out of puff before you're going to do any damage tbh

yeah that's what I mean. Above 4k you can really feel what little torque there was disapearing - there is just no point. The engine is at its best between 2 and 3k IMO, the Fiat figures that show peak torque at 1,500 rpm are also complete fabrication!

grimwau said:

I don't think that scuffed wheels is a reliable yardstick by which to determine whether a car has been abused.

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Maybe not generally, but both sides?

Mines still on order & I'm gonna keep it until i get bored with it, or I see another new car that I really like more

I have finally decided on scrappage for my lovely old mini, that I bought from new 16 years ago. Its had a few parts replaced in the past, but it was still cheaper than replacing a car I was perfectly happy with. The only reason i'm getting rid of it is that it now has so much rust & parts going wrong that its just not worth trying to keep on the road

The 500 is the only car i've seen that has the style & fun factor of an original mini, so buying a BMW was never an option. Just gotta hope now that the mini keeps going during the long wait for it's replacement